Published 12:37 pm, Friday, June 29, 2012

Times Union photo by Lori Kane
Mike Francessa, right, of Mike and the Mad dog from the radio talk show on WFAN in New York, signs autographs for fans at training camp at UAlbany, Albany, NY.

Times Union photo by Lori Kane
Mike Francessa, right, of Mike and the Mad dog from the radio talk show on WFAN in New York, signs autographs for fans at training camp at UAlbany, Albany, NY.

Photo: LORI KANE

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**FILE** Radio personality Don Imus appears on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show, in New York in this April 9, 2007, file photo. Two months after Imus' ignominious firing from his syndicated radio show at WFAN-AM, a variety of fill-ins have rolled through the revolving door at the station, but no successor has been chosen. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File) less

**FILE** Radio personality Don Imus appears on Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show, in New York in this April 9, 2007, file photo. Two months after Imus' ignominious firing from his syndicated radio show at WFAN-AM, ... more

Mike Francesa and Chris Russo from the early days of "Mike and the Mad Dog." (Courtesy WFAN)

Mike Francesa and Chris Russo from the early days of "Mike and the Mad Dog." (Courtesy WFAN)

The station that started it all — 25 years ago

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Should we give credit or assign blame?

The radio station that introduced loud opinions on a 24/7 basis turns 25 on Sunday. New York's WFAN (660 AM), whose numbers occasionally show up in Capital Region ratings books, signed on as "America's first all-sports station" at 3 p.m. July 1, 1987. The first voice heard? That of Suzyn Waldman, who now irritates ear drums on Yankees radio broadcasts.

The station could only go up from there.

Pete Franklin, in my childhood a legendary talk-show host on WWWE in Cleveland, was hired to do afternoon drive time but suffered a heart attack just before the station's launch. Franklin, who died in 2004, did not do his first show until fall of 1987, and frankly (no pun intended) didn't resonate in the New York market.

He eventually was booted in favor of an experimental two-man talk show on Sept. 5, 1989. Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, known as "Mike and the Mad Dog," worked together for nearly two decades.

"It's great to have an affiliation with teams and to have their games on," said program director Mark Chernoff, who has been with WFAN since 1993, "but we live and die by what we do in the sports world as far as the sports talk. You get to find out what New York is thinking."

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Sound bytes

1 The NFL has pushed back the starting time of its CBS and Fox Sunday doubleheader games from 4:15 to 4:25 p.m. The move is intended to reduce the instances in which the 1 p.m. game runs into the late time slot. On CBS doubleheader weeks, don't expect "60 Minutes" to start at its regular 7 p.m. time, "except on the West Coast."

2 ESPN says that Chris Berman will do play-by-play on the "Monday Night Football" doubleheader game Sept. 10. Berman, who will work with Trent Dilfer, has never been in the booth for an NFL game. For those who are uneasy about the network's choice, he has to be better than Mike Greenberg

3 The third Olympics assignment for WNYT sports anchor Andrew Catalon may prove to be the charm. Catalon, who has called team handball and curling for NBC in past Olympics, is heading to London next month for tennis, which will be held on the same All-England Club courts currently being used for Wimbledon. Catalon and Brett Haber will share play-by-play duties for tennis, which will be shown on Bravo.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, WFAN should blush. Sports talk, while it didn't originate on the station, certainly spread across the nation once WFAN established that a sports format could work.

Interestingly, it was a non-sports personality who made the station profitable.

Don Imus was host of the highly rated "Imus in the Morning" program on WNBC, which held the 660 AM spot on the dial. When that station was sold in 1988, WFAN took over the frequency and Imus remained on 660 AM.

"He really changed the culture of the radio station and brought a whole lot more people to WFAN who had never listened before," Chernoff said. "Imus brought them here, 'Mike and the Mad Dog' and our other hosts kept them here."

Some other notable dates in WFAN's first 25 years:

March 1989: Gary Cohen joins as Mets play-by-play announcer, calling games for 17 years before moving to TV.

October 1993: Howie Rose becomes lead play-by-play announcer for the Rangers, phasing out his nighttime host duties.

June 1994: Rose, Marv Albert and Sal "Red Light" Messina call the game that gave the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 54 years.

August 1999: The station gains Giants radio rights, which it still has.

March 2002: "Mike And the Mad Dog" begin simulcasting on the YES Network.